Superman Returns (Again) In Gunn’s New Ambitious Project

After months of Krypto-related teasers and the kind of fan speculation usually reserved for album drops, the final trailer for James Gunn’s Superman is finally here — and it’s giving us something the DC Extended Universe’s (DCEU) moody Man of Steel never quite managed: charm.

Yes, there’s action. Yes, buildings fall and fists fly. But what sticks after watching this new look isn’t destruction — it’s the way David Corenswet’s Superman leans forward in an interview with Lois Lane and, with one flick of a smile and shift in posture, becomes Superman.

No red eyes. No operatic brooding. Just a guy from Kansas with superpowers and a conscience. It’s the kind of moment that nods lovingly at Christopher Reeve’s take without being trapped by it.

A Superman Who Talks and Smiles

The trailer opens with what could have easily been a throwaway gimmick: Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) interviewing Superman. But it turns into a framing device for the whole film’s central conflict. Is Superman just a superpowered saviour? Or is he a moral actor in a deeply complicated world?

When Clark says, “People were going to die,” after intervening in a foreign war, you feel the weight of a man caught between his ideals and reality. It’s the most overtly human moment we’ve seen in a Superman film since maybe ever. The fallout plays out through glimpses of chaos: a collapsing building, an injured Superman being helped out of a crater by a random guy — a beat that’s rare in its crowd-sourced heroism.

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Bright, Bold, and Weird (In a Good Way)

Visually, the film feels like it finally took the DCEU colour correction filter off. This isn’t all washed-out greys and self-serious slo-mo. The palette is brighter, the tempo more kinetic, and even the weird stuff — like a woman with spinning blade arms in the Fortress of Solitude — lands with confidence. It’s classic Silver Age chaos filtered through Gunn’s sci-fi sensibilities, and it works.

The trailer also gives us our first real peeks at DC’s new benchwarmers-turned-headliners: Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Green Lantern Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and yes, a slightly less spotlight-hogging Krypto. It’s a crowded roster, but if anyone knows how to juggle an ensemble of left-of-centre weirdos, it’s the guy who made Guardians of the Galaxy work with a talking raccoon.

Nicholas Hoult’s Lex (and Gunn’s Big Swing)

Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor doesn’t get much screen time in the trailer, but the glowering intensity is there. This isn’t Eisenberg’s tech-bro manic energy — Hoult looks more composed, calculating, and (thankfully) wigless. We don’t know his full plan yet, but that’s probably intentional. It’s a Superman trailer, not Lex: Origins.

What is clear, though, is Gunn’s tone. He’s pulling from All-Star Superman, channeling the hopeful weirdness of the Silver Age, and throwing in action choreography that (per Gunn himself) takes cues from Top Gun: Maverick. It’s nostalgic without being pandering, and modern without being cynical.

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The Stakes Are Bigger Than Krypton

Let’s be honest: this isn’t just another superhero movie. It’s the superhero movie — the one tasked with launching Gunn and Peter Safran’s brand-new DC cinematic universe after the last one slowly collapsed under its own multiversal weight.

The fact that they’re starting with Superman — not Batman, not another Joker origin story — is significant. It’s a bet on optimism. A bet on decency. A bet on a big blue Boy Scout who still believes in helping people, even if he occasionally breaks a few sound barriers in the process.